The Amazing Spider-Man: Best of Enemies (aka The Amazing Spider-Man 7)
by OptimusPhillip
Summary: When Harry Osborn escapes from Ravencroft Asylum, Peter knows his life won't get any easier anytime soon, and finds out how much of an understatement that is. Harry operates as the Goblin but commits no crimes, and, while operating as Harry, starts doing good things, but still is motivated by revenge: and now we learn why in this tale of hatred, darkness and tragedy.
1. Chapter 1

New York City was having a normal day, but the citizens were unaware of what was happening at Ravencroft Mental Institution for the Superhuman Criminally Insane. Within the walls of the asylum, the most infamous inmate bent the bars in his cell window like pipe-cleaners. With a clear path out of his cell, Harold Osborn, the wealthiest businessman in the Mid-Atlantic and the infamous Green Goblin, clambered out and rode away on a waiting robot bat.

**GREEN GOBLIN ESCAPES STATE'S MOST SECURE SANITORIUM** read the Daily Bugle headline.

Upon reading this, Peter could clearly imagine Harry saying "Ready or not, Petey, old pal, here I come!"

"I will be ready, old friend," said Peter, "whatever it takes, I'll be ready."

The next day, Harry Osborn returned home to his family. His wife, Liz Allan, who had also attended Midtown High with Peter but was never really noticed, was not too thrilled to see him after what he did.

"Lizzie," said Harry, "It's been a while, how've you been?" Liz didn't answer. "C'mon, I know you can hear me."

"You've got some nerve, Harry," said Liz, "coming back here after what you did to your best friend and potentially countless others."

"I thought you liked me for my bravery."

"The police are after you, Harry."

"So what?"

"So, if they find you, you're going back to the Vault."

"Ravencroft."

"What-the-hell-ever, the point is they're after you."

"I won't be here long, just wanted to stop by and see my lovely lady and my beautiful baby boy."

"Normie's not a baby anymore, he's three years old."

"He'll always be my baby boy."

"You're not seeing him, Harry."

"I already see him." Harry gestured over to a toddler in the living room, playing roughly with a Spider-Man action figure, "Just like his old man, huh, Liz?" Liz slapped him across the face.

"Fine," said Harry, "I'll go, but I will come back, and I'll come back a changed man!" Harry walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry's claims of changing were actually not that far-fetched, for sure enough, he donated $5,000 to Make-A-Wish like that was just a normal day for him. Peter and Liz, however, weren't changing their tune just yet. Peter still used the Green Goblin punching bag and Liz still didn't give Harry the keys to their new locks even though all the Green Goblin stashes hadn't been touched except by police inspectors since Harry broke out. However, a lot of the people in Manhattan were rooting for Harry's philanthropy.

Peter sat silently on his and Mary Jane's bed after the announcement of Harry's donation.

"Are you alright, Peter?" said MJ when she entered the room.

"He says he's changed," said Peter, "but he can never change what he did to me." He stormed off, leaving MJ concerned.


	3. Chapter 3

Spider-Man was patrolling the city when he noticed a silhouetted man riding on a large winged creature headed for the Daily Bugle building. Spider-Man, clearly knowing that it was Harry, followed

J. Jonah Jameson was not expecting anything to happen while lighting his cigar, but suddenly the Green Goblin flew in, causing him to drop the brown stick.

"What are you doing here?" said Jameson.

"Yeah," said a voice from the window, JJJ and Goblin turned and saw Spider-Man perched on the sill, "what are you doing at the Daily Bugle of all places? Trying to propose an alliance against me?"

"What?" said Goblin, "Just because I dress up in a colorful costume people think I'm going to do something bad?"

"Well, you've done bad things in that suit before. Like that time you poisoned that Parker woman."

"Well, no matter my attire, I do not mean any harm. I just have something for Jolly Jonah here to print."

"What do you want?" said Jameson.

"You know who I am, right?" said Goblin.

"Who doesn't. You're Norman Osborn's boy, Harry."

"Yes. My dear father has since passed on. Not like that's news to you, it happened years ago."

"Of course it did."

"Yes, but it still haunts me to this day. But I know exactly how to change that. I'm starting a new enterprise that perpetuates Norman's spirit. The Norman Osborn Foundation, which uses the Osborn family fortune, which as we all know is a sizable one, to help those in need. There'll be a gala opening in six weeks, make sure the city knows about it, or else." Goblin pulled out a pumpkin bomb.

"Of-of-of course." said Jameson, "I'll run that ad."

"Good, good." said the Goblin, "Because it's going to be big." He flew away laughing.

"Well," said Jameson, "what are you still doing there?" Spider-Man did not respond before swinging off.


	4. Chapter 4

When word got out of Harry starting a charity, everyone freaked out. People flocked all the way from Buffalo just to take blurry pictures of the construction, which had just broken ground. And it also was finally able to change Liz's mind, who, after much, much looking, found Harry.

"What do you want, Liz?" said Harry

"Here." said Liz as she handed Harry a set of keys.

"Really?"

"Well, I've been doing some thinking, and you really have changed."

"Thanks, Lizzie."

"No, thank you, for all the great things you've done for this city." Liz kissed his cheek, "Feel free to come back whenever you want."

"Okay." Liz walked away, only to notice moments later that Harry was right behind her.

"You said whenever."

However, one man was not thrilled about Harry's plans. Peter Parker stood in front of the 6% built building, no emotion on his face.  
"If you really have changed, Harry," Peter muttered to himself, "you'd have apologized by now." Peter walked away, with a clear show of anger on his face.

"Peter," said Mary Jane, "is something wrong?"

"You know what's wrong, MJ," said Peter, "Harry's what's wrong."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Peter."

"You know full well what I'm talking about; you were a witness to one of his crimes."

"Is this about our daughter?"

"It's about that, and Gwen's kids, and all those clones, and the fact that he did all this even though we're supposed to be best friends."

"But he's changed now."

"Well, if he's changed so much, why hasn't he tried making amends? Because I'd be more than willing to."

"Maybe he's just afraid you'll still be angry at him."

"Or maybe he hasn't changed at all! I was his only target; he doesn't need to change to do good things for the city." The argument between husband and wife heated up, and eventually, MJ, sick and tired of this, walked out of the house.


	5. Chapter 5

Mary Jane walked down the street when she suddenly saw the Green Goblin circling overhead. She tried to run, but the Goblin still noticed her and flew down after her, grabbing her by the collar of her jacket.

Meanwhile, Peter had began to consider MJ's words and tried to go over to Harry's place. However, when he arrived he only saw Liz sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Liz," said Peter, "where's Harry?"

"You just missed him." Liz said, "He just went out to get a newspaper."

"Wait, you mean Harry's out there?"

"Yeah. I tried to talk him out of it, he's actually been kind of ill lately, but you know Harry, can't change his mind no matter what." Peter didn't respond. Instead he just left.

Spider-Man swung through New York, desperately trying to find MJ.

"Why did I let her walk out like that?" he said, "I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her- Why am I thinking like that? I'm just being paranoid. I mean, with a population of just under 10 million, what are the odds of Harry and Mary Jane finding each other? Pretty slim, I'd say... If I wasn't talking about the Green Goblin. In all my years as Spider-Man, in all my awful situations of fighting scorpion-men, alien clothes, rhino-men, this one is the worst. Harry was my best friend, but now he's turned on me, and I don't know why. What kind of friend takes away all you have left of your already lost love, kills your daughter before she's even born, tries to drive you insane by making millions of you, and then tries to destroy you and everything you love?"

"Put me down, Harry!" said Mary Jane as Harry dragged her through the air on his flying robot bat.

"I will put you down," said Harry, "just as soon as we reach our destination." MJ struggled to get free until she saw where they were heading.

"You remember, don't you?" said Harry, "Of course you do, how could any of us ever forget? The place where all our lives changed forever," the camera pans to reveal their destination to be a large suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, "the place where Gwen died!"


	6. Chapter 6

The Green Goblin took Mary Jane to one of the pylons of the bridge, one with chunks taken out by gunfire, indicating it to be the place where Gwen Stacy was hurled off remorselessly by the original Green Goblin, with the gunfire being from the time Spider-Man and Gwen's children were shot at by the police.

"This is the exact spot where she fell," said Goblin, "and in a sense, we all fell with her. You do understand why I brought you here, don't you, MJ?"

"Yes." said Mary Jane, "And I just want you to know- that you're not gonna get any begging or pleading from me, Harry, I won't give you the satisfaction. So just do it! I'm not afraid to die."

"Die?" Harry took off his mask, "MJ, how could you say such a thing? I'd never hurt you, you're my friend. I love you."

"You've sure got a funny way of showing it."

"MJ, I know what you're thinking, and that's not why I brought you here."

"Well, why did you bring me here?"

"To tell you that it will never come to this. I would never hurt you."  
"You really mean it, don't you?"

"With all my heart. Whatever happens between the Green Goblin and Peter, I want you to know you're safe."

Spider-Man swung through the city the fastest he'd gone since he tried to talk to Gabriel and Sarah Stacy, looking for Mary Jane. Suddenly he came upon a couple of guys raiding a house.

"How much do you think we could get out of this?" said one of them.

"Doesn't matter," said a voice from above them, "because you won't get that out of it, not even a nickel." They looked up to see Spider-Man swinging towards them, feet first. He kicked them off. One hoodlum grabbed onto a ledge, but the other continued to freefall from the fire escape. Spider-Man shot a web net down which caught the crook and entangled him.

"You think you can just break into someone's house," said Spider-Man after landing down, causing obvious strain on the webs, "take what means the most to them, and treat it like it's some kind of joke? Well it's not funny!" The webs continued to creak, but Spider-Man didn't try and stop it.

"Okay," said the thief, "I'm sorry. I-I'll give it all back, I won't do it again, just, don't kill me!" That last part of that sentence snapped Spider-Man out of his rage. He hadn't been seeing their faces, he was seeing Harry's, and that caused him to nearly let a person die essentially by his hand. When the webs finally snapped, he shot another one, suspending the crook not that high above the ground. He tied it to the fire escape, took the other crook off the ledge, webbed him up too, and swung off.


	7. Chapter 7

_I've been through the entire city, _thought Spider-Man as he swung back home, _no sign of Harry or Mary Jane. Maybe I was overreacting, maybe Harry did just go out to get a copy of the Bugle or Post, and maybe MJ just came back home and is just as worried about me as I was about her. Maybe I should just go home, apologize and-_ Peter's thought was cut short as he saw Harry and MJ in his house. He swung in and kicked Osborn across the room.

"Stay away from my wife, Harry." said Peter, "Don't drag her into this anymore than you already have."

"He wasn't going to, Peter." said MJ, "That's what he wanted to tell me. He just wanted to let me know that he would never want to hurt me no matter what."

"But I thought-"

"Always thinking the worst of me, Peter." said Harry.

"Well, it's kind of easy to worry when I see a super villain with my wife." said Peter.

"It really is, Harry." said MJ. Without a word, Harry left.

After a few weeks, the Osborn Foundation townhouse was done with the exception of interior decorating. The night after the building was completed, Harry took his family to see the inside of the building.

"This is really coming along well," said Liz, "I'm so proud of you, Harry."

"I'm not doing it," said Harry, "I'm not the one of whom you should be proud." Harry gestured toward a portrait of Norman Osborn, "He's doing this. His spirit is motivating this entire project. I'm doing this for him." Suddenly Liz's watch beeped.

"Oh, I've got to get back home or the chicken won't be done by suppertime." she said

"Okay, Liz," said Harry, "see you later." Liz left. Harry sat down in an armchair in front of the portrait, a glass of scotch in his hand.

"I know you'd be proud of me, Dad." said Harry to the portrait as though he was talking to Norman himself, "I've got a great family, OsCorp is still number one, and I've done all this in your name. But something tells me that won't satisfy you, but I know what will. You know that big gala opening, this week? I've invited a lot of people. Policitians, business bigwigs, all the high and mighty jackasses who tried to take over your business, tried to upstage you, or tried to shut you down, who smiled to your face but sneered behind your back. And the gala is where I get revenge." Harry got angrier, "This townhouse is rigged up with enough explosives to level a city block. Once all of them have settled in, boom, nothing's left but ash and bone. I'll blow those sneers right off their faces. But there's one thing I won't do, Dad, I won't make the same mistake you did, I won't. I won't forget my family!" Harry crushed the glass in his hand, "I won't. They mean everything to me."


	8. Chapter 8

Spider-Man swung through the city, having searched everywhere he possibly could for incriminating evidence against Harry. Having not come up with anything concrete that could land Harry in prison before he does anything bad, he made his way to the Osborn Foundation townhouse, where the gala was going on. He entered one of the upper floors and searched for anything that could incriminate Harry. He snooped around and found a secret Goblin hideout, complete with Badbat, serum, and weapons. He also saw a large computer with a timer on it set to 2:00. When he went in for a closer look, he suddenly heard Harry coming upstairs. He quickly found a place to hide and saw Harry come in and push a button, starting the timer. Spider-Man suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye a small amount of a grey plastic substance with wires attached to it.

"Bombs." he muttered to himself. It was not until too late that he remembered that Badbat had a psychic link with Harry and to say it had an acute sense of hearing was an understatement.

"Yes, Peter," said Harry, "in exactly 1:53 you, this townhouse and all those high-and-mighty jackasses downstairs will all go up in a giant fireball."

"What makes you think you can get away with it?" said Spider-Man, "They'll know you're responsible and throw you in a padded cell."

"I don't care if I get caught; these people have wronged my father. As have you."  
"What?" Harry pulled out his obsidian sword and swung it at Spider-Man, who swiftly dodged, though he did get a slight abrasion. He shot a web at the sword and pulled it away, shattering it against the wall. Harry picked Spider-Man up and threw him at the wall. Harry picked up a long spike from his trophy case. He pinned Spider-Man down with his foot and stuck the spike into his shoulder. When he pulled it out, there was some blood on the tip.

"How ironic," said Harry as he aimed the spike for Spider-Man's heart, "the murderer killed with his own murder weapon."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" said Spider-Man.

"You killed my father, so I'm going to kill you."

"What makes you think I killed him?"

"When Dad went out late that night a few days ago, I got a bit suspicious, so I followed him. When I saw you two fighting in the warehouse, I saw you grab a sharp object." (The following scene is a flashback to the climax of The Amazing Spider-Man 3,) "I saw you aim it at the heart. When I looked up, it was through his chest and you were gone."

"Well, I dropped the sharp object, he tried to impale me with that accursed bat of his, but I dodged. If I could've saved him, I would've."

"Well, why isn't this attached to Badbat?"

"A fang got stuck and broke off when the mouth closed." Upon hearing about this possibility, Harry lowered the spike.

"Badbat," he said, "open mouth, extend fangs to maximum." The robot bat in the middle of the room did so. Harry took the spike and lined it up with the robot's broken fang, "Perfect match. Oh, God, I can't believe I didn't see this before. I did all this to you over a misunderstanding." Suddenly Harry's sorrow turned to shock as he noticed the timer read 0:57, "The bombs!" Harry raced to the computer and tried to push the abort button, but it wasn't working. Suddenly he noticed that when he slashed at Spider-Man, he'd cut one of the relay wires.

"I can't shut them down." said Harry, "There are innocent people down there! But you're in no shape to help them and-"

"And what?" said Spider-Man.

"And I'm no hero. I can't do anything right, my father-"

"Your father was a psychotic maniac. Are you going to listen to a person like that, or are you going to listen to your best friend? You can be a hero, Harry. I know you can."

"You're right, Peter. Those people need me, and whether I can save them or not I'm at least going to try." Harry jumped on Badbat and flew out.

Downstairs the gala was going great, when suddenly the Green Goblin flew in.

"Everybody out!" he said, "Hurry! This place is going to blow in 0:36." Everyone ran out, however, Harry saw the shadows of the three people who remained. He looked closer and saw, to his horror, that it was Liz, Mary Jane, and Normie.

"What are you three doing here?" said Harry.

"We came to see this firsthand." said Liz.

"And I came to see if I could help you." said MJ.

"Well, I need you to get out in..." Harry looked at a timer in his hand, "less than 20 seconds, before the place goes up."

"What about Peter?" said MJ.

"Peter?" said Harry, "I'll take care of him, you get out of here." They did leave. Not long after they exit the townhouse, there was a massive explosion. They were shocked at first, but then they saw a man carrying another man while riding on a giant bat.

A little after that, Harry and Peter looked at the burning wreck that was once the Osborn Foundation townhouse. Suddenly Harry threw his mask in the fire, followed by his shoulder bag, which created multiple smaller explosions due to the pumpkin bombs inside of it.

"Aunt May isn't dead, you know." said Harry.

"What?" said Peter.

"I just had one of my agents kidnap her; I had him make sure she stayed alive."

"Why?"

"I didn't want her to die because of our conflict, she was like family to me, so I made sure he gave her the medical attention she needed."

"So you didn't want to kill Aunt May but you were perfectly fine with killing my daughter before she was even born?"

"I thought there was a difference at the time, now I realize there was none at all." Suddenly Harry collapsed down, screaming in pain.  
"Harry," said Peter, "are you alright?"

"Formula..." Harry said, "Must've... taken too much..."

"MJ, call an ambulance."

"Right." said MJ.

"Stay with me, buddy, help is on the way."  
"Thanks pal."

At the hospital, Harry had one thing to say to Peter.

"Can you forgive me, Peter?"

"Of course, buddy. I forgave everybody else; I even forgave Gwen for betraying my trust, what makes you think I won't forgive you?" Harry smiled

"It just occurred to me, I never gave you the name of the agent who took Aunt May."

"Who is he?" said Peter.

"Mysteri..." Harry died before he could finish his sentence.

**THE END**


End file.
